USA -(Ammoland.com)- Thousands of Arkansans have been waiting on pins and needles for the last few weeks to find out if they were one of the lucky few who drew a chance at harvesting an alligator in Arkansas this year. Today, 101 individuals got the good news.
The permit draw was held up due to some unforeseen issues with the process, and officials with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused some hunters.
Arkansas’s 2017 alligator season is Sept. 15-18 and Sept. 22-25, and hunting is only allowed at night.
All permit winners must attend a hunter orientation class before being issued their temporary tags. Mandatory orientation classes for permit holders will be held August 19 in Hope and Monticello and August 26 at the AGFC Headquarters in Little Rock. Successful private land at-large applicants must provide written landowner permission and a map of their proposed hunt area.
Alligator hunting isn’t for the faint of heart. Hunters scan the surface of the water with spotlights from a boat, pinpointing alligators before easing up to them with a harpoon or handheld snare.
Permit winners are allowed up to three assistants during the hunt, but only the permit holder is allowed to snare, harpoon and dispatch the alligator. Arkansas alligator hunters must completely subdue the gator before finishing it with a shotgun or shotgun shell-loaded bang stick using shot no larger than no. 4 common shot.
Once dispatched, all alligators must be tagged with a temporary possession tag and may be checked online. Additional hunt details will be provided at the mandatory hunter orientation classes.
2017 Alligator Permit Winners
Zone 1 (Private Land At Large):
- William Aitken, Texarkana
- Josiah Allen, Lewisville
- Floyd Bell, Conway
- Landon Bryant, Texarkana
- Floyd Clark, El Dorado
- Michael Clark, Jacksonville
- Carter Coates, Greenbrier
- Allen Counce, DeWitt
- Matthew Davis, Conway
- Paul Deloney, Texarkana
- Ryan Dewey, Cabot
- Tony Dinger, De Queen
- Mark Fielding, Horatio
- Michael Foster, Hope
- Bobby Gentry, Pine Bluff
- Michael Hale, Mineral Springs
- Ashley Hale, Nashville
- Justin Harman, Texarkana
- James Hill, Dumas
- Charles Hines, Texarkana
- Daniel Hollinger, Conway
- Jeremy Jeane, Texarkana
- Aaron Lawrence, Texarkana
- Samuel Leamons, Arkadelphia
- Charles Mattox, El Dorado
- Taylor Moody, Hope
- Phillip Neill, Magnolia
- Brian Ratliff, Conway
- Martin Siems, Scott
- Marlin Terry, Ashdown
Zone 1 (Dr. Lester Sitzes III, Bois D’Arc WMA):
- John Call, Ward
- Jimmy Perkins, Lonoke
Zone 1 (Lake Erling):
- Seth Jean, Magnolia
Zone 1 (Little River):
- Lakota Hoover, Murfreesboro
- Amy Miller, Hope
Zone 1 (Millwood Lake):
- Cynthia Blankenship, Ashdown
- Elizabeth Chastain, Malvern
- Kenneth Crumpton, Texarkana
- George Dixon, Magnolia
- Cody Friday, Ashdown
- Jason Glass, Taylor
- Philip Redfearn, Ashdown
- Beau Redfearn, Texarkana
- Leslie Smithpeters, Arkadelphia
- Marvin Weido, Magnolia
- Ryan Whitlow, Foreman
- Randi Young, Texarkana
- Demarius Zacarias, Van Buren
Zone 3 (Private Land At Large):
- Christopher Beller, Batesville
- Lauren Bryant, Hampton
- Rodney Chastain, Jonesboro
- Brian Corcoran, Bella Vista
- Richard Crawford, Paragould
- Carol Doolittle, Eudora
- Kyle Elkins, Fayetteville,
- Wesley Fletcher, Monticello
- Richard Gore, Little Rock
- Virginia Haynes, Star City
- Jody Hibbard, Star City
- Michael Hill, Little Rock
- William Jones, Pine Bluff
- Brooks Joseph, Conway
- William Lassiter, Monticello
- Andrew Ligon, Stuttgart
- Paul Lovell, Mountainburg
- Michael McFadden, Lonoke
- Patrick McGarity, Sheridan
- Kelly Mitchell, DeWitt
- Christopher Morgan, Stuttgart
- Andrew Norwood, Little Rock
- Robert ONeil, Wilmot
- Cory Rowe, Lake Village
- Mary Simon, Monticello
- Hunter Thomasson, Fayetteville
- Burtis Walker, Paragould
- Martin Walt, Dumas
- Mary Weatherly, Wilmot
- Paul Williams, Rogers
Zone 3 (Lower Arkansas River Wetland Complex):
- Jeffrey Atwood, Star City
- Charles Brenke, White Hall
- Raymond Doering, Pine Bluff
- Blake Downen, Tillar
- David Gates, Newport
- Michael Gillion, Beebe
- Jordan Gosverner, Roland
- Keaton Howard, Pine Bluff
- Steven Isom, Greenbrier
- Bryan King, Pine Bluff
- Charles Lanehart, Wilmar
- Donovan McFadden, Roland
- Ian McReynolds, Jonesboro
- William Monagle, Little Rock
- Arthur Pattin, Ravenden Springs
- Hannah Smith, Marion
- Louie Smith, Marion
- Ronald Tedford, Rogers
- Bobby Webb, DeWitt
- John Williams, White Hall
Zone 3 (Mercer Bayou/Sulphur River WMA):
- Jesse Howard, Jonesboro
- Zachary Kiser, Fayetteville
- Chirstina Shaw, Vilonia